IN a departure from the previous administration’s practice, members of Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s cabinet are not allowed to hire more than 10 aides or special officers, said a government source.

“Now, everything is by the book. Each minister is allowed only a press secretary and three special officers. In the past, a senior minister could have up to 35 officers,” the source told The Malaysian Insight.

He said some political appointees in former prime minister Najib Razak’s government had their salaries paid by private companies, as ministries did not have big enough hiring budgets.

He said the large number of empty chairs and rooms at ministries now was evidence of the recruitment cutback.

“Next to me, there’s an empty chair. In front of me, there is also an empty chair.

“When you ask the ministry (about the empty spots), they say there is no allocation for staffing.”

Another source revealed that the new ruling posed a problem to several ministries short on manpower, adding that ministers who wanted to hire more than 10 aides needed to get approval from the prime minister himself.

“The ministers are feeling it now, that they don’t have enough help. But they can’t be paying the officers out of their own pockets, right? So, the positions are not filled.”

Dr Mahathir’s hiring policy is believed to be aimed at limiting the number of ministerial appointments as part of the Pakatan Harapan administration’s cost-cutting measures.

Shortly after coming to power following the May 9 general election, Dr Mahathir terminated the services of 17,000 political appointees from the previous administration.

He has also released a circular to ministers and deputy ministers, reminding them of a 2012 Public Service Department circular stating that a minister could hire only one special officer, one private secretary and one press secretary, on top of supporting staff.

The circular fixed the maximum salary for a Grade 54 civil servant at RM10,000 a month, including allowance. – September 1, 2018.